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I start teaching on Monday (8-25), so I finally made my welcome video for the students that I mentioned here. I unexpectedly had to finish the video on Friday. Now that it is online, I am happy to share it with you. Even though I am not 100% happy with the video, I learned how to get over that feeling quickly last year when I was making flipped videos with a deadline every week. Check the video out if you like:

I already know that I want to do something different for the next time I make a welcome video, but I am happy that I got something out there for the students to feel like they know me a bit before classes start.

Right now, I am challenging myself to turn on my camera during class more this year. This is a scary thought, but I know I can do it, and the students will love it!

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You teach ONLINE?

When I tell others that I teach middle school math online, the first thing they say is, “How does that work?”, followed by an endless amount of other questions.

It seems like most people who I have come across do not know about online schools, so I will come back and update this if we change our plans throughout the year. Maybe it will give a better picture of how some people teach online. To be honest, I didn’t know that there were online schools for middle school students until I looked into it and found a job, and I have taught for 6 going on 7 years!

Organized the Office

I spent tons of time organizing my office! I needed to take a break from constantly being at my computer.

My desk 1

My desk 2

Thinking of Welcome Video

It is still a work in progress, but I am happy to have a place that I can work once school starts back up. In the midst of my back to school fever, I went a little crazy decorating my office. Early this week, I started putting up posters that I used to have in my classroom. I got inspired by my fiance’s office that has pictures and posters.

The fun has only just begun… I am sure I will make plenty of changes as the year goes on. After all, I will be spending a lot of time in there. I will be teaching from 8:30-3:00 with a break for lunch and another break throughout the day. Technically, this will be more hours teaching than last year. However, I will not have as many videos and lessons to create (hopefully). I will have trouble resisting the urge to make new videos and resources, so expect some new videos from me to show up on my vimeo profile. Plus, I did promise to make a back to school video to send to my students, so I need to follow through on that.

Back to School!

Our first meeting is the 11th, so even before we have students, there is work to do. Luckily, I got a lot done at the end of the school year to prepare for this year. Of course I still have things to do, but it isn’t as overwhelming as it could have been. I am the most concerned about our new structure of classes: how it will end up working out, and what it will be like when I am the main teacher for 7th grade. I am happy that I will be teaching 7th grade Pre-Algebra, which is a class that I taught last year.

I am so excited to see everyone again and am looking forward to working with some new people this year!

A little about our class structure plan:

Classes will be Monday-Thursday

Friday will be open office

Each class period will last 1 hour and 30 minutes.

45 minutes will be a large group

Led by me and assisted by the other 7th grade math teacher (there are two of them, but they will rotate) for the first class of the day only. The rest of the day, they will be teaching their own class. Ideally, we would like to have the students take a ticket out the door so that we can decide if they are free to go or if they need to stay for the remediation class.

30 minutes will be a smaller group

The other 7th grade math teacher will be teaching a remediation class on the same topic that I taught that day during the 30 minutes directly after the 45 minute class. They will take turns, so each of them will teach twice a week. I will help them for the first 15 minutes, but for the second 15 minutes, I will have a break, tutor, or set up for the next class.

There will be up to 6 classes a day

Bought a Headset & Printed Products

I bought a printer and a headset. I have yet to try the headset, but am looking forward to it! I did charge it.

I printed some products (even though I can’t use the hard copy because I teach online) just to make sure everything was how I intended it. I organized the products in two binders: one for stations, and one for other products. I haven’t done all the products yet, but I am sure I will eventually. Maybe I can use them someday in the classroom, or use them as a portfolio of my work. I used my label maker to label the binders. I can’t wait to start cutting out and laminating some station activities!

My Binders on the Shelf

My Stations Binder

Binders on a Shelf

Icebreaker Puzzle

Complex Fractions

Subtracting Integers Puzzle

TpT Sale Spike

Next came the TpT sale. I was in shock on the 4th (mainly because I had almost forgotten about the sale and had taken a few days away from technology), and especially the 5th… look at that crazy spike! The crazy part is that most of those sales were late in the day on the 5th. My spike motivated me to buy some clip art from a TpT seller to spread the love. Thank you TpT for hosting an amazing sale!

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Folding Fun: A Few Templates for YOU!

Folding white copy paper to create “foldables” is so much fun! It is even more fun to use colored paper and/or markers (or other coloring supplies).

Last week, my best friend was white copy paper. I decided to spiff up a few foldables that I have used in the past for order of operations. I used to hand write them, but I thought it would be nice to have a printable digital copy. Plus, if it is on the computer, my online math students can use it too! I used two of my common foldable designs that I created templates for.

You create six equal sections:

Second Foldable Template:

I usually use one of these versions of the second template because they are a little more basic:

Option 1:

Option 2:

If you are able to create something great for your classroom with these foldable templates, please share it with me! I can’t wait to see what you can come up with. If you need help working with these foldable ideas, please contact me.

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I am thinking about making a welcome video to send to my students.

First, I must say that I need to start going to bed earlier. It never fails, I end up staying up late right before the school year is about to begin, but not at the beginning of the summer. If I want to stay up late, I have one week left. After that, it is time to get back on a regular schedule. Our first meeting is on the 11th.

Most likely, I will post the video on vimeo and share the link with the students to watch before our first class.

FACT: I only know what a few of my students look like.

I work at an online school, so I work at home, except for meetings. Last year, I never met most of my students, in person anyways. The few that I did meet looked completely different from what I had imagined in my mind. I wanted to stare at them and soak in their faces so the picture in my head would transform. I had some pretty fantastic students in 6th grade last year that I am really looking forward to having again this year!

FACT: Most of my students haven’t met me.

Where did I meet some of my students?

At the office and/or while proctoring CRT tests. Last year, I had a few pictures on my website, and turned on the camera sometimes during class. Typically I only came on camera when the students asked me to, but there were a few days where I surprised everyone. I did not come on every day. I don’t mind being on camera, but I become very aware of what I am doing, which is distracting.

Why Am I Thinking About Making a Welcome Video?

The video will give my students a chance to see me. They loved it when I came on camera last year, but there audio and video don’t sync properly. There is no lag if I post the video on a website (unless they have internet like at my parent’s house in the country).

I know that some students will be really excited to see me in action. Hopefully the video serves its purpose, making the students feel a little more comfortable and welcome.

I will make sure my office is in good shape so that I can record the video there. Currently the condition clean, but I am trying to add more items to it. Today and yesterday, I cleaned the perimeter of the garage, where I have tons of school supplies, books, etc. from my classroom. Most of them are still out there… just a little neater. Some of these items are moving to my office.

I am thinking about putting up posters on the walls of my office. I have them, and I have no idea what to do with them. Storing them on the walls might be the answer. The room needs re-painted from the previous owners, so putting a few holes in the wall isn’t a big deal.

I am considering donating the school supplies… what am I going to do with them? Maybe I can give them to students at the office somehow.

I can’t believe it has taken me a year to deal with the mountain of stuff from my classroom that has sat in my garage. Now when I open my garage door I don’t have to cringe, thinking that neighbors are looking at my piles of stuff, and secretly judging me. The amount of money that I spent on all of this stuff is insane!

I know from making flipped videos last year, students don’t like to watch long videos, so I don’t feel the need to make it very long. 2 minutes tops. Just a hello and a bit about me and about what to expect in class. It will include any necessary excel documents (a calendar of topics, and 7th grade common core resource) and a PDF with information, such as when to get help.

I am feeling really good about this idea. Maybe I will suggest it to some colleagues.

Now that I wrote it down, I will remember it, so it is time to follow through. Pictures coming soon.

What do you think? Would you watch a welcome video from a teacher? Would you make one?